Sourcing Legally Produced Wood: A Guide for Businesses

This booklet provides an overview of key legality issues that businesses should consider when purchasing wood and paper-based products.

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Key Findings

Between 8 to 10 percent of global wood production is estimated to be illegal. Most of the illegally produced wood is consumed domestically, but a significant portion enters the international market either as finished products or raw materials.

This booklet provides an overview of key legality issues in the global wood trade that businesses should consider when purchasing wood and paper-based products. Topics covered include trade regulations (e.g., the Lacey Act, the European Union Timber Regulation, and the Australian Illegal Logging Prohibition), public and private procurement policies, trade bans, and resources for meeting legality requirements.

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Illegal logging drives deforestation in many countries, robbing national governments and local communities of valuable income and contributing to global biodiversity loss and climate change. Apart from its environmental and economic damage, illegal logging can fuel corruption, and is sometimes linked to organized crime and violent social conflict.

A new guide, Sourcing Legally Produced Wood: A Guide for Business, provides four actions companies can take to source legal wood. The guide aims to help companies avoid illicit logging in their supply chains—both for the good of the world’s forests and their own bottom lines.